3 Days
Private
3 Days Christmas Holiday Safari in Uganda (Lake Mburo)
from
Eland
Introduction of an Eland
The common eland, also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a large savannah and plains antelope found in East Africa and Southern Africa.
This is the world’s largest species of antelope, belonging to the spiral-horned tribe. This is native to the African savannas and the woodlands, therefore occupying the woodland and savanna areas and National Parks in East Africa and Southern Africa.
This is a herbivore animal, and it’s known for its remarkable ability to survive in arid climates and distinctive twisting horns found on both the male and female animals.
Classification of an eland
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Tribe: Tragelaphini
Genus: Taurotragus
What makes an eland very unique?
The fact that this is the heaviest antelope with a cow-like size makes it a very unique animal with the following factors:
It has an exceptional water conservation ability, unlike other antelopes and animals; this animal is built for survival in hot arid savannas. In the process of conserving water, they can raise their body temperature up to 7 degrees Celsius, and this normally happens on hot days, and it’s done to reduce sweating and losing water from the body.
It has a male and a female, both of them with horns that are not common in other antelopes. Both the male and the female have spiral horns to defend their calves from the predators, while the male uses its horns to break down high branches during the mating process.
It has nutritious, long-lasting milk that contains three times the butterfat and double the protein of standard dairy cow’s milk. This milk, when stored, it can last for some months without being spoilt making it a good animal to keep at home.
Its ability to intimidate the predators makes it a very unique animal. Because of its height, weight, and formidable horns, it does not always flee from danger. The mature bulls of this animal are known to aggressively confront lions and other predators.
Recommended Safaris
This animal has some of the following characteristics
The adult male or bull can grow up to 1.8m in height at the shoulder and can weigh up to 900kg, and the females are about half the male’s size
It has a prominent flap of skin under the chin, a slight shoulder hump and vertical, faint white stripes on the coloured coats.
Both the male and the female have horns that are straight and can grow up to a height of 1 meter long if not broken or cut through fighting and injuries.
The behaviour and ecology
This animal has a very high agility, despite the animal being heavy and muscularly built, it can jump as high as 3 meters from a standing position to run at a speed of 4 km/hr, mostly in case of attack or danger.
It feeds on a wide variety of leaves, fruits, grasses and many more plants since it’s an herbivore animal.
It can easily adapt to drought, like any other animal; like camels, it can raise its body temperature to avoid sweating and extract most of their needed hydration directly from the vegetation on which it feeds.
Reproduction of an Eland
Its reproduction is polygynous, where the dominant, older bulls secure access to groups of females and here, males compete for dominance and actively mate with their females. Mating can happen year-round, but there are often regional peaks in birth rates timed to coincide with the end of the dry season or the start of the rains, which guarantee the growth of different vegetation.
Its gestation period lasts about 250-280 days, which is roughly 9 months, and females give birth to a single calf; therefore, it’s very exceptionally rare to have twins.
The calves can walk and stand after a few hours of birth; however, the mother always hides the newborn baby in vegetation for close to two weeks before it moves out to hunt for food
What does an Eland feed on?
An eland is an adaptable herbivore that feeds primarily on a mix of grasses, leaves and fruits depending on the season. They are mixed feeders, and during the wet season, they graze on fresh green grass and in the dry season, they browse on leaves, twigs, and some very succulent roots
This animal frequently feeds at night because it requires a lot of moisture to sustain its massive size. It therefore spends most of its nighttime looking for what to eat and normally rests when the sun is too hot to reduce its water loss.
It is water independent, meaning that its life doesn’t necessarily depend on water. It drinks water when it’s available, and when it’s not available, it can spend some long hours without drinking water, and its body is very adaptable to that, surviving entirely on the moisture obtained from food.
It has a different foraging habit where it uses its lips to grab plants and can occasionally use its sharp horns to pull down the high branches of trees so that it can eat the leaves.
Eland Gallery
Where can it be found?
There are two species of elands in the world, and one of them is the common Eland that is found in East Africa and Southern Africa, and the Giant Eland found in central and western Africa, but both of them inhabit the savanna areas
In Uganda, this species can be found in the areas of Lake Mburo National Park, which is the home of the largest population of these animals in the whole country, and it has over 1500 elands in the area.
It can also be spotted in the areas of Kidepo Valley National Park in the remote north area of Uganda. This savanna park is one of the wildest and arid National parks in Uganda, and these animals mostly live in the arid areas of Uganda.
Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve is also another wide hotspot for these important animals. This is one of the recently gazetted areas in Uganda and is famous for several animals, but an Eland can not be left out.
Other areas have these Elands, for example, the common eland is in areas of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Masai Mara in Kenya, Kruger National Park in South Africa, and Etosha National Park in Namibia
The Giant Eland is in the woodland areas of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Sudan, as well as some of the isolated areas in Senegal
Is it very dangerous?
No, an eland is not very dangerous. Being one of the largest antelopes to exist on the planet, it is naturally shy and skittish, and it generally prefers to run rather than fight an enemy.
However, they are not dangerous; they have an aggressive character in self-defence, have very strong animal power and size, and can react if constantly provoked.
Recommended Safaris
5 Days
Private
5 Days Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Lake Mburo Safari
from
$ 800
per person
Tips for spotting it
Spotting this kind of antelope requires patience and a sharp eye. This is because it is usually found at a distance, and to locate them, you use a key physical, behavioural and auditory tips to locate them if you are to have a safari
One of the ways is by using visual identifiers, for example, you look for the blue bull, and that is an older male with a dark blue coat and a ger coat that contrasts with the lighter colour of the females and younger Elands
You can also spot this animal early in the morning and late afternoon. By mid-morning, they hide under the big trees to get shade.
They can also be spotted with birds because they follow the birds. They often associate with birds that normally migrate, so they can be found in areas where you notice a disturbance or a mixed group of species.
Conclusively, an Eland is one of the most unique antelope-like animals, very calm unless provoked, with distinct characteristics, calm social behaviour and a very unique identity compared to the other antelopes
Browse other sightings
Griffin Falls
Moroto town
JINJA-the source of the Nile
The Great Rift Valley
Igongo Cultural centre
Hot springs and Geysers
Lake Edward
Mabira Forest
Pian Upe Game reserve
kororo falls
Karamoja Apalis
Ssese islands
Don’t wait,
book this adventure safari today
Low season
Oct, Nov, Mar, Apr, may
Peak season
Jun, July, Aug, Sept, Dec
Got any questions
about traveling to Uganda?
Get in touch.
